Barnabas Fund’s International Director, Dr Patrick Sookhdeo, here shares first-hand accounts from Syrian Christians who he met last week in Lebanon.

I have just returned from Lebanon, where Barnabas Fund had brought together a range of Christians from different parts of Syria, each with their own heart-breaking story to tell about how the conflict...

A Hindu nationalist party, which supports extremist groups that attack and harass Christians, has lost control of Karnataka state, India, in a crushing election defeat.

The Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) has been at the helm of the southern state since 2008 but saw its share of the vote slashed by 13.9% in the poll on 5 May.

A 24-year-old Christian teacher in Egypt detained over allegations that she defamed Islam during a school lesson has gone on hunger strike.

Demiana Ebeid Abdelnour, who teaches social science in Luxor, was arrested on 8 May after the parents of three children accused her of insulting Islam and Muhammad.

Saudi Arabia: Two men jailed over case of woman convert to Christianity;
Iraq: Convoy of governor’s advisor on Christian affairs hit by suicide bombing;
Indonesia: Christians protest against religious freedom award for president.

A Christian prisoner in Iran who is in a critical condition suffering internal bleeding has been denied proper medical attention.

Vahid Hakkani, who has been detained in Shiraz since his arrest in February 2012, has been told by prison doctors that he urgently needs surgery, but officials have failed to arrange his transfer to a hospital.

An extensive survey of Muslims conducted in 39 countries throughout the world has revealed a broad desire for the implementation of sharia law. Those questioned also expressed an extremely high level of support for the freedom of non-Muslims to practise their faith. This is granted by sharia to Christians and Jews, but only on condition that they submit to demeaning and discriminatory dhimmi regulations.

Azerbaijan: Christians win appeal against heavy fines for unregistered religious activity;
Sudan: Christian workers interrogated, threatened with being buried alive ;
Egypt: Church attacked over alleged conversion of Muslim woman to Christianity

At least five people were killed and around 60 wounded in the bombing of a new church in Tanzania during a service to mark its official opening.

An explosive device was thrown into the church compound in Olasti, a predominantly Christian suburb of Arusha, on Sunday (5 May).

A pastor in Indonesia is facing assault charges after his beleaguered church was attacked by a mob of Muslim extremists; a human rights group has supported him.

Police on 20 March named the Rev. Palti Panjaitan as a suspect in an assault case relating to an incident that took place when the congregation of his church in Bekasi, West Java, was attacked during a meeting.

As violent Islamism poses a growing threat to post-Arab Spring Libya, Dr Patrick Sookhdeo, International Director of Barnabas Fund, reflects on its growing power and menacing implications for Christians in North Africa and beyond.

Christians in a village in Punjab, Pakistan were forced to evacuate their homes after they were attacked by armed Muslims who threatened to destroy their property; theirs is the third Christian community to come under attack in less than two months.

A mob of around 50-60 armed Muslims attacked Christians in Eassa Pur village, Khanewal district, on 26 April.

Reports of raids on church services in Kazakhstan, restrictions on meetings and on sharing one’s faith, and censorship of religious literature contradict the president’s claim that the country has religious freedom.

President Nursultan Nazarbayev claimed on 17 April that “Kazakhstan is an example to the world of equal rights and freedoms for all citizens”...

Morocco – Fatwa calls for the death penalty for those who leave Islam;
Somalia – Christian widow whose husband was killed for his faith shot dead;
Iraq – Kurdish pastor released after nearly two years in prison.

A Sudanese government minister has announced that no new licences will be granted for church buildings, in the latest of a series of moves that have put pressure on the vulnerable Christian minority.

Al-Fatih Taj El-sir, the government minister who oversees religious affairs, explained the decision by saying that no new church buildings are needed...

Dr Patrick Sookhdeo, International Director of Barnabas Fund, reflects on the prospects for Syrian Christians as their country continues to be torn apart by civil war.

As Syria’s Christians reel under ever-increasing pressure from Islamist militants, the kidnapping of two senior church leaders has vividly underlined their perilous position. Their future, within Syria or even in neighbouring countries, appears increasingly bleak.

A new report produced by the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran has found that Christian activities are effectively criminalised by the Iranian authorities.

The report, which is based on interviews with 31 Christians in Iran between April 2011 and July 2012...

A Christian-run children’s home in India has been attacked by a group of Muslim extremists who beat staff and visitors and vandalised property. Islamic leaders have falsely accused the group running the home of converting Muslim children.

A group of mullahs descended on the home in Srinagar, in the predominantly Muslim state of Jammu and Kashmir, on 10 April.

Kazakhstan: Easter Sunday service raided; officials attempt to discredit Christians;
Vietnam: New reports shed light on death of church elder;
Tanzania: Pregnant mother forced out of family home for accepting Christ.

Militants from the rebel Islamist group al-Shabaab have seized, imprisoned and tortured a Christian convert from Islam in Somalia.

Hassan Gulled was taken by the rebels, who still control parts of central southern Somalia, on 23 March in Bulo Marer, near Qoryoley District. Hassan (25), who had been living in Christian-majority Kenya since 2007, returned to Somalia in late February to visit his family. His wife is still in Kenya.

The formation of a committee by the Nigerian government to consider the feasibility of granting an amnesty to Boko Haram has polarised opinion in the country. Supporters believe it could put an end to the Islamist militant group’s bloody campaign, while opponents, including leading Christian organisations, fear that such a move will only give licence to further violence.

Saeed Abedini, a pastor jailed for eight years in Iran, has been threatened: return to Islam or you will not be released – even after your sentence has been served.

The Iranian-American has been detained since his arrest last September. He was convicted and sentenced in January for planting house churches “intended to undermine national security”.

Human Rights Watch has called on the Egyptian authorities to bring to justice those responsible for violence in which several Christians were killed, as two more were added to the death toll.

Thousands of mourners gathered at St Mark’s Cathedral in Cairo for the funeral of Marsouq Atteya, Morkos Kamal, Victor Manqarios and Essam Zakhary, who were killed in al-Khosous, north of Cairo, on Thursday (4 April) and Friday (5 April).

Libya: Five foreign Christians detained for alleged proselytism released;
India: Christian family attacked in their home; mother’s hand severed ;
Laos: Three pastors arrested while copying Christian DVD freed.

An appeal court in Kazakhstan has overturned a ruling that 121 pieces of Christian literature, including Bibles, that were seized from a street evangelist be destroyed.

The controversial decision provoked widespread outrage among Christians and civil rights defenders in Kazakhstan and attracted negative publicity around the world.

The Religious Affairs Ministry in Sri Lanka has announced that it intends to introduce legislation enabling the authorities to take action against religious groups that are deemed cults in a move that threatens some of the country’s churches.

Ministry Secretary M.K.B. Dissanayake said that a dialogue with the relevant stakeholders had been initiated regarding the introduction of such a law.

India: Seminary rector who was murdered at Easter laid to rest;
Pakistan: Christian neighbourhood attacked; five injured, church ransacked;
Indonesia: GKI Gembrong closed as crackdown on churches continues.

A Christian man was killed on Sunday as the funeral of four other Christians shot dead in violence just days before came under assault in Egypt.

Thousands of mourners gathered at St Mark’s Cathedral in Cairo for the funeral of Marsouq Atteya, Morkos Kamal, Victor Manqarios and Essam Zakhary, who were killed in al-Khosous, north of Cairo, on Thursday (4 April) and Friday (5 April).

Islamists in Bangladesh are calling for the introduction of blasphemy laws amid violent protests against secularist campaigners that have left around 100 people dead. They have threatened to “kill all the infidels”.

The protests erupted in February and have become increasingly volatile.

Two Christians have been killed and scores arrested as violence again erupted in Tanzania over the slaughter of animals; Muslims are denying Christians the right to sell their meat because it is not halal.

The row has been going on for some weeks, but the opposition is intensifying as the authorities side with the Muslim aggressors.

An Islamic cleric has issued a fatwa calling for the rebels in Syria to rape women who are not Sunni Muslim as part of their campaign to oust President Assad.

Salafi sheikh Yasir al-Ajlawni posted the message on YouTube, saying it was “legitimate” for Muslim fighters who are trying to put in place an Islamist government to “capture and have sex with” Alawites, the sect to which President Assad belongs, and other non-Sunni, non-Muslim women.